The following abbreviations are herewith defined, at least some of which are referred to within the following description.
3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project
AP Access Point
CP Control Plane
DL Downlink
eNB Evolved Node B
EPC Evolved Packet Core
IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem
IP Internet Protocol
IoT Internet of Things
LTE Long Term Evolution
MBB Mobile Broadband
mIoT Massive Internet of Things
MM Mobility Management
MME Mobility Management Entity
MTC Machine-Type Communications
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
PDU Protocol Data Unit
PGW Packet Data Network Gateway
PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
RAN Radio Access Network
SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access
SGW Serving Gateway
UE User Entity/Equipment (Mobile Terminal)
UL Uplink
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
In wireless communications networks, next generation of wireless networks (e.g., fifth-generation or “5G” networks) are expected to support different network slices. Each network slice can be seen as an independent network partition optimized to support the performance requirements of a certain usage class. For example, a wireless communication network may contain a network slice optimized for mobile broadband services (characterized by high data rate and medium latency), a network slice optimized for autonomous driving (characterized by low latency and high reliability), a network slice optimized for Internet of Things (“IoT”) or Machine Type Communications (“MTC”) (characterized by low mobility and low data rate), and the like.
Generally, the same public land mobile network (“PLMN”) deploys one or more network slices. A network slice may be deployed multiple times within a PLMN, resulting in multiple instances of the same network slice. It is expected that the same mobile device (e.g., User Equipment (“UE”)) may simultaneously connect with multiple network slices. For example, a UE may be connected to a network slice optimized for massive IoT in order to provide connectivity to its IoT applications. Simultaneously, the same UE may be connected to another network slice optimized for mobile broadband communication in order to provide connectivity to its IMS and/or web browsing applications.
However, mobility management (“MM”) signaling increases when the UE is simultaneously connected to multiple network slices. For example, when a UE is in idle mode and moves to new routing area (also referred to as a “tracking area,” “registration area,” or “paging area”), the UE needs to update its current location with all of the connected network slices. Conventional mobile communication networks would require the UE to perform multiple routing area updates, one towards each connected network slice. Performing multiple MM procedures results in increased MM signaling between the UE and the network and decreases the battery life in the UE.